South Carolina governor declares state of emergency as wildfires erupt in Carolinas, Georgia
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Sunday as wildfires in the Carolinas and Georgia scorched thousands of acres and forced people to flee their homes.
More than 175 fires were burning in South Carolina, the governor’s office said earlier Sunday, fueled by unusually dry conditions and gusty winds. Those conditions are expected to fade as a cold front pushes out the dry air mass over the Southeast and brings rain by Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
By early Monday, that number was down to 163, with over 5,400 acres burned, according to the South Carolina Forestry Commission.
Russell Hubright, the South Carolina Forestry Commission Chief, described the flames as “very erratic.”
State of emergency in South Carolina as wildfires prompt evacuations
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“You saw that the flames are low and all of a sudden they jumped up right? So wind changes can do that in this kind of a fuel type as we call it, so it can be a little scary,” he told NBC’s Emilie Ikeda in an interview aired on “TODAY” Monday morning.
In Horry County, a fire near Myrtle Beach and the Carolina Forest area had burned 1,600 acres by Sunday night and was 30% contained, according to the forestry commission.
People in eight neighborhoods were forced to evacuate as several fires raged in Horry County, officials said. Members of the South Carolina Army National Guard used two Blackhawk helicopters to drop water 600 gallons at a time on the blazes, the South Carolina National Guard said Sunday.
“The top of the trees really lit up with the big fire and black smoke was just pouring right on top of everything,” Dennis Sprecher, who lives in the Walkers Woods community, near the Carolina Forest, told NBC affiliate WMBF of Myrtle Beach on Sunday.
“You just see the raging fire heading towards the houses and everything. I didn’t realize how bad the fire was. You just hear like a tornado going out in the middle of the trees,” he added.
Besides Horry County, fires have affected an estimated 4,200 acres across the state, including in Spartanburg, Union, Oconee and Pickens counties, McMaster’s office said in a statement Sunday.
Social media video showed an orange sky as the Carolina Forest area fire burned near Myrtle Beach. Another video showed smoke and debris in the air as a fire burned in a backyard in nearby Red Hill.
